Her First Son
by miraleeann
Summary: A one shot featuring James and Ginny. This can be part of the TWICHB world or it can stand completely on its own.


**Author's Note: This can totally go along with TWICHB or it can stand completely on its own. Enjoy it and let me know what you love or hate :)**

* * *

He was sitting at the kitchen table, pushing his oatmeal around his bowl with his spoon. He had hardly eaten a bite of it since his mother had placed it before him.

He had woken up hungry enough. His stomach had actually growled silently as the aroma of breakfast filled the kitchen while he, his brother, and sister sat at the table waiting patiently.

His dad was already at work. It wasn't unusual for him to miss breakfast with his children, over the past few months the three of them had grown accustom to sleeping in just a bit.

At first Ginny had been adamant that they should get up much earlier, she wasn't raising lazy children after all. But after a few mornings of having her husband all to herself before he went off to work, she changed her mind completely, allowing the children to sleep in until after their father headed out.

The three of them had been chatting loudly at the table about their plans for the afternoon, which would involve a rousing game of Exploding Snap. Their mornings were spent doing lessons with their mother, as they weren't old enough to go to Hogwarts just yet. James often complained during the lessons but secretly he quite enjoyed them, especially now that he was ten and his mother was allowing him to learn some small spells…without the use of a wand of course. Still he enjoyed his afternoons, when he was free to do as he pleased a bit more. James was listening to Lily threaten to beat them both at their card game when their mum had cleared her throat loudly, her signal which told them she had something of importance to say.

"It completely slipped my mind," she explained as she dished their breakfast into bowls. "Your Aunt Hermione will be here to pick you up just after lunch."

James felt his shoulders slump.

"But mum my teeth don't need cleaning," he complained as she placed his dark blue bowl down in front of him.

Ginny smiled softly, ruffling his hair gently before she stood straight once more, "I know you don't want to go but it is one afternoon and your cards will be here when you get back."

"But why can't you just clean them like you always do? Why do we have to go to a muggle dentist? We aren't muggles!"

"It's your Aunt Hermione's father and she is insistent that your teeth will be much more thoroughly cleaned by him. Rosie and Hugo have been going to him their entire lives; it certainly won't hurt you three to try it as well."

James opened his mouth to protest once more but his brother spoke before he had the chance to.

"He's scared."

"I'm not!" James practically yelled in response.

He and his younger brother were very close, bu it was moments like this when his brother could read his thoughts without any trouble at all that he disliked their closeness.

"Volume," Ginny said as she placed Lily's breakfast down in front of her. "And I know this is your first time seeing a muggle dentist but he is your Aunt Hermione's father. There really isn't anything to be afraid of."

"I'm not afraid!" James said once more.

Ginny raised an eyebrow at her oldest child. She had been just twenty-three when James had come into their lives and unlike with Albus and Lily, James had had her undivided attention and as a result of that she could read his every emotion inside and out. She had an undeniable bond with all her children but her bond with James was just a bit stronger.

"I'm not," James insisted at his mother's look. As with Albus, he sometimes begrudged how well his mum could read his every word and emotion.

"I'm not scared mummy," Lily announced causing her brother to shoot her a deadly look.

"I'm not either!" James insisted once more. "Only a baby would be scared of something like this."

"Then there should be absolutely no problem with your Aunt Hermione taking you this afternoon," Ginny smiled. "Now hurry up and finish your breakfast so the three of you can start your lessons."

* * *

James glanced up at the large clock on the kitchen wall. Unlike the clock in the living room which didn't actually tell time but instead told where the members of the family were at all times, the one in the kitchen was much more informative in James opinion.

Time was moving much too quickly for James liking this morning. By his calculations, he had less than an hour before his mum would be making lunch and it wouldn't be longer after that that his Aunt Hermione would be coming to collect them.

James was usually quite fond of his aunt. Today however, that wasn't really the case.

Today he was feeling annoyed with her. For months...years now his Aunt had been pestering his parents to allow her to bring them to a dentist. If it had been up to his dad he probably would have went a long time ago but his mum had been insistent that she could clean her children's teeth well enough.

Aunt Hermione was persistent though. James knew that eventually his mum would give in. He hoped she wouldn't but he knew she would. Aunt Hermione could talk anyone into anything eventually.

He hated that his brother was right too. He was scared.

He hated himself for being scared. He wasn't even sure why he was scared. His mum was right after all, it was his Aunt's father and Rose and Hugo went all the time and they lived to tell about it. And Albus and Lily weren't afraid. They were younger than him and they weren't afraid in the least. He hated himself for being scared.

He_ was_ scared though. He could feel his heart racing in his chest as he thought about how little time he had before his aunt would be there. His quill was slippery in his hands as they sweated profusely.

"What is it James?"

There it was again...that way she knew him without any words being spoken.

"I have to go to the loo," James lied. He kept his head down and his eyes on his paper as the lie slipped out.

"Go on then."

James breathed a small sigh of relief. He had been practically holding his breath in fear that she would see right through his words. That she would force him to stay at the table. That she would insist he tell her everything.

He slid off of his chair and practically ran out of the kitchen.

He had to come up with an idea, something to get him out of this whole horrible mess. For a moment he thought about telling his mum he felt sick but he knew she'd never fall for it. He even thought for a brief moment about going out in the woods for a few hours, just hiding out for a few hours until this whole thing blew over but he was pretty sure that would only make things ten times worse.

The panic in him was rising once more when out of the corner of his eye he noticed his mother's wand lying on the coffee table.

James wasn't daft. His parents didn't have very many rules. One big one, however, was that he, his brother, and sister were not to touch a wand under any circumstances.

He knew it was a rule but it didn't stop him from picking it up off the table.

His feet carried him quickly and quietly down the hall towards the study before his mum could catch him.

Quietly he pushed the door shut behind him.

He paused for a moment, listening to the silence, trying to hear if his mum was coming. He could hear Al and Lily talking in the kitchen and his mother's reply and only then did he exhale and begin moving once more. He quickly moved the desk chair across the room and climbed up onto it reaching for a large book high above him.

His brain was working faster than it ever had before. As soon as the book was in his hands he flopped down onto his bum. He opened the book and immediately began flipping through the index.

"There has to be something," he muttered softly in a desperate voice. His eyes scanned the page before coming to a halt. A smile spreading across his face as he picked up the wand once more.

Without a moment of hesitation he pointed the wand at his mouth. "Scourgify."

It took James all of a second to realize that he had made a horrible, horrible mistake. The moment the spell was verbalized his mouth filled with soap causing him to shriek in shock. Seconds later he began to gag as he dropped the wand and jumped off of the chair. He ran towards the door with the plan to run to the loo and rinse his mouth out. He flung open the door to the study, his eyes growing huge as he walked directly into his mum.

"What in the world..." Ginny trailed off as her eyes roamed across the room, settling in on her wand, now abandoned on the floor. Ginny's face grew stern as she looked back at her oldest son, her brain quickly putting together what exactly had happened.

For a moment Ginny contemplated letting James suffer for a bit longer with his soap filled mouth but she couldn't even imagine how horrible the taste must be.

She quickly said the correct words to stop the spell.

The moment the soap stopped foaming he began speaking. "Can I go-"

"No you may not go wash your mouth out," Ginny cut him off.

James felt his shoulders slump in defeat. Once again, he cursed the fact that his mother could read his thoughts.

"However you may explain to me what exactly is going on," Ginny continued.

James opened his mouth as he desperately racked his brain for an explanation.

"And let me remind you that telling a lie in this house will always guarantee far more trouble than the truth," Ginny spoke once more.

James sighed softly before speaking. "I took your wand and tried to use a spell on my teeth."

Ginny looked down at her son. He was looking at the ground and speaking in a defeated voice. He was in every way as miserable as she had ever seen him.

Her very first thought was that she should tan his disobedient backside. The most imperative rule that she and Harry had set for their children was never to touch a wand and now James had gone and done just that. As she looked down at him though she couldn't help but feel a bit of sympathy for her eldest child. She knew James as well as she knew herself and she knew that if he had gone to such extremes, there had to be a good reason.

Ginny reached out and gently took her son's chin in her hand, lifting his head up until his eyes met hers. "Explain."

"I tried to clean my teeth so that when we went with Aunt Hermione her dad would think they were already so clean that he couldn't do anything else to clean them any better."

"Ah," Ginny nodded knowingly as she released her son's chin from her grip. She had been aware that James was obviously fearful of the dentist but she never imagined he would have gone to such lengths to avoid doing so.

"I'm sorry mum," James said in a voice just hardly above a whisper.

"I understand your fear," Ginny spoke softly. "It's the fear of the unknown. You've never been to a dentist and so the idea of it is a little scary for you."

"I'm not afr-"

"You are," Ginny said gently," and that's okay. No one expects you to be brave all of the time."

James nodded quietly at these words.

"However, regardless of your fear you are still very aware of the rules in this house, are you not?"

James nodded miserably at these words. He thought about pointing out that his mouth had been full of soap less than ten minutes ago and that in his opinion that should be punishment enough but he knew better than to do so.

"You are never to touch a wand that isn't you own. Understood?"

"Yes," James nodded.

"Nor are you supposed to be in the study reading books that are on the top shelves, but you know that as well don't you?"

Another nod.

"If you're really that scared of going to the dentist, I won't force you to go."

James head snapped up as he gave his mother a thankful look.

"Don't for even a moment think that means you are off the hook though. You are going to help me clean around the house while your brother and sister are gone and if I ever catch you with a wand that doesn't belong to you again you'll be over my knee before you can blink. Is that understood?"

James nodded quickly his ears so red with embarrassment that he was sure they were going to burn right off his head.

"Back to your lessons with you," Ginny continued. "And yes you may go rinse your mouth out first."

James gave her a small smile as he turned, about to head towards the bathroom when he felt a hard smack to the seat of his pants.

James whipped his head around, giving his mother an accusing look.

"A reminder to behave yourself," Ginny said in a no nonsense voice. "Now go rinse your mouth out and get yourself into the kitchen before I decide you deserve much more."

James nodded before hurrying off.

Ginny smiled to herself as she walked across the room and picked up her wand. With a simple wave of it, the book James had borrowed returned up to the top shelf. She shook her head as she walked out of the study closing the door tightly behind her; she could just imagine Harry's face when she told him what James had done this time.


End file.
